Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique expects the match with „Barcelona“ in the Champions League to be held as planned, despite the riots in France. The match is scheduled for October 20 at the „Parc des Princes“ stadium, with a kick-off time of 21:00 local time and 22:00 Bulgarian time.
„I am not the person who should talk about this. I am here to talk about football. Obviously we do not like this violence, but this is how society develops. I can only focus on football. "I hope the match goes ahead as planned," Luis Enrique told a pre-match press conference.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunes also said the match was not in danger of being postponed. "The matches are not in question," he said, according to Italian news agency Italpress.
On October 17, mass demonstrations took place in France against the rising cost of living and in support of student demands. According to the French Interior Ministry, around 550,000 people took part in the marches, while organizers said nearly 800,000 people took part. Clashes with police, arson and looting were reported in Paris and other cities.
According to the Spanish sports daily AS, no new demonstrations are scheduled for October 20, and the match has not been classified as a high-risk match. However, the final security arrangements remain the responsibility of the French authorities.
PSG enter the match after a 4-2 away win over “Manchester City“. “Barcelona“ won their previous match in the tournament 4-1 against “Galatasaray“. Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov plays for the Paris team.
The match is from the third round of the general stage of the Champions League. There is currently no information that the match will be postponed or moved from “Parc des Princes“.